...5 centimeters per second
Do you know
The speed at which cherry blossoms fall?
At what speed must I live
To be able to see you again?
The speed at which cherry blossoms fall?
At what speed must I live
To be able to see you again?
I so need to get a new blog for my dollies so Aki-chan will stop hijacking my LJ.
( +4 = rest of picfic )
O.o
CUCUMBER Pepsi anyone? I can just imagine both Chris and John grimacing. Personally, I'd give it a shot, but then, I'm not a good example of normal consumer behavior because I eat anything.
(John, imagine being assigned to a line that MANUFACTURES said Cucumber Pepsi. :D)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19230461/
Ha! Remember all those jokes about Kare-kare Ice Cream with Bagoong Ripple? And the Dinuguan Ice Cream with Puto bits? With the advent (and brisk sales!) of Pepsi Cucumber in Japan, makes me wonder whether those jokes can actually come to life.
ii. catographer
Kitty cam anyone? Some guy actually made a camera that shoots periodically and attached it to his cat's collar. Marketed as a Cat Cam, it allows you to take a peek at your cat's (and dog's I bet) normal day. I'd want one if I had a cat :D Visit the site and view the sample pics. They're so interesting.
http://mr-lee-catcam.de/index.htm
iii. musical pinkies
John and I found this itty bitty guitar at SM's Filipiniana section. While it's not the best piece of handicraft ever, the fact that it's a miniature guitar made me want it. So, John bought it for my pinkies. Too bad Emma doesn't seem to be too happy with it.
SCREW YOU GLOBE. You just lost me my goddamned auction.
Do you think this is a sign from the universe to stop pining for Nina and drop all thoughts of purchasing a Pullip? I swear it's a conspiracy. I wouldn't be surprised if Shi-chan...
SHIORI!!!! GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT YOUNG LADY!
Was so happy I snagged a secondhand Japanese cookbook for 50 bucks yesterday. I mean, that's just a dollar for a lovely illustrated Japanese cookbook. I bought it to get some bento ideas because I saw lots of bento pictures inside. I thought I'd be content with that.
Until I leafed through the cookbook when I got home and realized that it was a farking bento cookbook! Even the plated dishes look like stuff prepared for obento. It had interesting vegetable side ideas as well as protein ideas. Now I'm feeling frustrated since there's so much potential waiting to be unleashed in the book---if only I could understand Japanese.
Oh well. Is this a sign to try studying again? I really should go for formal classes, or at least get a tutor but I don't have the money, nor the time. Woe is me.
ii. screwey priorities
I found myself shopping for a Pullip yesterday.
It's getting scarier by the minute cause I was already browsing the threads at dollie-mixtures. And I've been corresponding with a Pullip seller with a store in Greenhills. So I'm this close to buying one, the only thing stopping me is the fact that I bought a DS Lite last month, and I've a couple of pinkies on pre-order. Oh yeah, and more importantly, the fact that my savings account is pretty much depleted.
Nina, Rida, Holly & Latte are all in stock. My first choice is Nina, but when the possibility of customizing cropped up, I began thinking twice because if I can change wigs, I might choose someone else.
Nina looks so sweet, but Rida looks promising too. Plus, her clothes are black leather, cause she's modeled after Oosaki Nana. Holly's classic although I'm worried about her hair, but then, if I can switch wigs... I'm not too hot about Latte's clothes but she has a nice face and a decent wig, and clothes area easily replacable. Then, I spotted Rovam on the soon to be restocked list and her face is simply lovely. I find her a mix of innocence and sultriness.
What am I doing choosing Pullips? That's stepping even further into the cute (and expensive) side! Waaaaah!
We're always the hardest on ourselves, aren't we? Gawd so emo. Someone hit me with a blunt object---
PUT THAT OVEN DOWN!
ii. i bought shoes
I actually bought a pair of shoes impulsively. Because it was cute. Not because I needed a pair, but just because I thought it was cute. Sure it was pretty cheap since I bought it from Greenhills, still. It's hard to comprehend.
I. Bought. Pretty. Shoes.
iii. toycon
Went to the ToyCon yesterday. There were a lot of booths and exhibits, but I wasn't too excited. I felt like there was just a homogenous mix of superhero toys, but then, I probably wasn't the target market.
Proof that the event didn't get me too excited was my laziness in taking pics. I wouldn't even have whipped Natsume out if the Kalye Pinky girls hadn't pointed out that the KP display was prime pinky photo op.
So, I decided to go snap some---
RIN-CHAN! GET AWAY FROM THE YAOI!
iv. pullip
Help me. The Pullip cuteness is sucking me in. I actually made an inquiry about getting a Nina. So cute. T_T;; I can sew clothes for her!
*Is eyed by an angry pinky head with no face that's waiting to be customized*
No Face1: Oh, so you have free time to sew?
Kaoko: Uhm---
1Not to be confused with the Spirited Away No Face.
Vivi astride Usagi-chan, shot against the cover of the Hamilo Coast brochure.
Emma-san shot against a Los Banos, Laguna landscape. I had to go sepia because my original print was done in Black & White, back from the college days. I figured it would look awkward, shooting a colored pinky against a black & white print.
See? We don't have to be slaves to photoshop to take fun pics. :D
Note to self: Brush up on lighting techniques and pick up a third lamp.
i. fall dorama line-up
And the squeeing can be heard from miles away! I've had a love-hate relationship with the manga, Hanazakari no Kimitachi E. When I first started reading it, it was hard keeping up because I had to get it from IRC. For some reason, it wasn't listed in the mangascan release directory I used to frequent so getting new releases from TFT was a hit and miss affair. But it involved cross-dressing so it was a must read. I remember fighting with tsumenki over who Ashiya should end up with. She was always pro-Sano. Since I was always gung-ho for the loud and brash type, it was always Nakatsu for me.
( Rambly back story )
But now? I'm thinking twice about watching it because...OGURI SHUN's playing Sano in the J-dorama version! We've all seen how he did a super cute-lovable-mischievous-reliable Rui in Hanadan. Physically speaking, Shun's not my type, but with his acting skills, I'm all ready to fall in love with his Sano. Added bonus, Horikita Maki is playing Ashiya. Yes, it's Nobuta from Nobuta wo Produce (Akira x Nobuta 4evah!) She's guaranteed cutes, can act, and I so can't wait to see her play tomboy. Oh fall season dorama, why do you feel so far away?
Thanks nagi-sama for the heads-up!.
ii. the fastest way to kao-chan's heart
Okay, this is late news so it's not news but it's new to me. So there. Anyway, the season's drawing to a close but it was only last week that I found out about Bambino! What about it? It starts Matsumoto Jun. And he cooks!
Need I say more?
iii. still teary eyed
Two things made me cry this morning:
- Rabucon 8. Whether it's the manga, movie, or anime, that particular class trip scene always breaks my heart. If you've seen it, you'll know what I'm talking about.
- Diana Wynne Jones' The Girl Who Loved the Sun. Such a pretty pretty story. I think this is the first time I cried reading one of her stories. They're always satisfying, but they never drive me to tears, just heights of fangirlness. This one however, wham bam!
iv. themed blog #2 in the works
I've been thinking about building another blog, this time for my pinkies. kitchen cow has taught me how much fun it is to keep a themed blog and how wonderful wordpress is. I doubt a Pinky-focused blog will get as much hits as kitchen cow (come on, everyone loves food!) but the possibilities I can explore with it is thrilling me.
Course, I promised myself that no work on said pinky blog can begin until I finish all the needed updates for kitchen cow (still 80 old entries need to be cleaned up: trans. to remove lj formatting).
Anyway, I'm stumped for a name. I haven't decided whether I'll be getting a full domain, or whether I'll just subdomain on kitchencow (although that means I'll have to get a larger bandwidth plan), but still. Any suggestions for a name?
v. last night, we dined swell!
Last night, we finally had our long-awaited Greek Foodfest at Naomi and Rae's. The second of what we hope will be a regular cooking challenge event, this one is an even bigger success than the first one because we dared venture into unknown territory: Greek Cuisine! Recap will be done later today, I still have to sift through my camera, as well as decide which pics I'm going to use for kitchen cow and which are for private f-list viewing only. Still, it was a lovely day so I had to mention it already.
If you're a Flickr user, you probably know about Moo Cards, those cute little photo cards where you can put your name and details.
Well, cheer up LJ buds, Moo's invading LJ and is giving away free 10-pack Moo Cards! Click now since there's only 10k freebie packs.
ii. look at what the duck drove in...
After a few weeks of worrying about her, the newest addition to my ever growing Pinky family arrived in Manila two days ago. Flist, say hi to Vivi-chan!
Vivi: Hi, Kao-chan's friends. I'm Q-Vivi and I just arrived from Japan. I'm so happy to be finally home. It was a scary ride, flying across the sea in a cardboard box, but I'm happy to be traveling back on Usa-chan again. Usagi-chan is my Rabbit Scooter. Anyway, we're really loving it here!
Kaoko: Glad to see you're happy Vivi!
Vivi: Oh, I am, Kao-chan. I especially love my name. How did you know I loved Princess Vivi from One Piece?
Kaoko:...
Vivi: You must be clairvoyant.
Kaoko: Vivi-chan, uhm, actually I didn’t know.
Vivi: But why did you name me after Vivi-sama?
Kaoko: Uh, you're not named after Vivi. See...when I was a kid, we used to buy cheese called QBB...
Vivi: CHEESE? *faints*
I feel so disgusted with myself whenever I realize how much I've spent on groceries these past two days. Yesterday, I spent a substantial sum at South Supermarket on what I called "bento supplies." I argue with myself that buying groceries and packing lunch assured that I'd save money because whenever I eat out at work, I'm sure to spend at least 100PHP on food. A lot of times, that doesn't even include drinks.
But who am I kidding? Where does a box of Cocoa Crispies fit in? Nor that big bag of Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles? Still, I reassured myself, this will last me for a week at least. And in fairness, I did buy ingredients like ground beef (keftedes and hamburgers), slices of sirloin (fajitas or kalbi maybe?), eggplant (eggplant and hummus panini!), bean sprouts (korean barbeque siding?) and quail eggs (bring on the cute faces!)
Still, today, I ended up dragging my mom to the Japanese grocery, Hatchin. I bought stuff I had no immediate use for like sushizu, naruto-maki and even some denbu oburo. Course, I piled my basket high with my favorite cream koroke and some takoyaki. What made our little expedition special was the fact that I managed to nab some Men's Pocky (best Pocky ever!) and Gohan Desu Yo! *rubs hands with glee* I'm exceptionally proud about the Gohan Desu Yo! because no one told me that I grabbed the right product. I just counted the hiragana characters and noted the ! at the end. The only character I noticed was the N. I did think Momoya sounded familiar (flashback to Yakitate! Japan Momoya Gohan Desu Yo! guy guest appearance) so it was a total leap of faith. You can imagine my sigh of relief when the counter girl zapped it with the counter laser thingie and the POS identified it as GOHANDESUYO. No wonder a salesperson I asked had no idea what I was looking for. ^_^;; Well, either they knew it as something else or my Japanese pronounciation is truly atrocious.
Not content with the lavish expenditure, we then proceeded to Makati Supermarket Alabang to buy Kewpie Mayo and some nori. But when have I ever entered a supermarket and not come out with more than what I intended to buy? Of course I couldn't let me disappoint my disappointing self. I left the store with a box of instant UCC Coffee (damn you, UCC Cafe Terraces!), Korean barbecue style chicken, and chicken breast fillets.
So now, we're stuck with a stuffed freezer, a thin wallet, and the serious need to bento.
ii. now i'm really disgusted
I was very generous with giving GMA7 the benefit of the doubt with their recent prime time programming. While Asian Treasures reeked of an Indiana Jones and Lara Croft crossover fanfic, Super Twins stank like a fugly Sailormoon rip-off, and of course the supposedly "based on the original French story" Lupin, I refrained from berating them for the lack of creativity. Even if the Super Twins costume was waaaaay fugly. Heck, even with the pending Shaider remake, I kept mum.
But Angel Locsin as MARIMAR? COME ON! Why would anyone even want to watch a Marimar remake? It's not like we can expect them to do to Marimar what ABC did to Betty La Fea! And come on?! Marimar? With the talking dog? The only thing that would make me buy it is if Michael V was cast in the show. TO DO ALL THE ROLES.
Come on GMA. You can do better. Please don't devolve back to the day when you'd rip off Hollywood flicks like Only You (no exag, I really remember this) for your Sunday Telesine.
iii. purty office
We had our office blessed today. Yay! Purty purty office, bedecked with nice glass panel treatment by the superfantabulous Mike Calvan. But of course, the best office decoration is still our newest, most beloved office mate:
iv. ghey lawyerly love
Wright.
I must say, I hadn't expected
to meet you again after all
these years.
However.
In retrospect, it would have
been better had we not met.
Thanks to you, I am saddled
with unnecessary... feelings.
Yay for ghey laywers! Phoenix x Edgey: OTP! Bwahahahahahahaa!
Disclaimer: This apparent appreciation for BL is purely superficial. Sorry to disappoint you khursten, rotch. The thought of watching BL pr0n still makes me-----*shudders*
v. where oh where is my q vivi?
Choro Q has been in transit for 35 days now. I'm starting to get worried. She's not just a toy. I named her already, therefore, she's part of family. :( Vivi! Where are you?
- you've no energy to watch the latest shoujo anime you downloaded
- swallowing your food feels like a chore
- you don't even have the energy to open your windows even if it means the room would be more refreshing
- you can't even be bothered to unwrap your newest Pinky package from Japan
Despite not giving them a formal welcome yet, I took a couple of snapshots this morning. Meet Emma and Aoi.
Emma Miko is half-Japanese, half-British. She grew up in London but eventually moved to Japan for high school. She looks tough but is really a shy, sweet girl.
Maki Aoi is Hachiko's sister. Like Hachi, she's a bit haughty. Yes, she's named after Miyazaki Aoi who played Komatsu Nana aka Hachi in the Nana movie.
( Image heavy + Fun heavy )
I am ebul. After a week with no work internet connection, it hits me. A lot of my blogging is done in between work projects. Heeheehee. Hence the lack of blog entries, despite having a backlog of lots of stuff to talk about. So this will be a long entry. I'll try to keep it short but my definition of short can be quite relative. :P
...I took a short break writing and watched TV. I felt a tad sleepy but just had to blog (probably meaning zombified kao at the location shoot
As an effect, the rest of the entry is brought to you by our sponsor, Krispy Kremes.
Heehee. SUGAAAAAAAAAAAHR!
ii. i wanna be impulsive, reckless...
I ran into an interesting book last Friday night as I was waiting for John to meet me after his 2pm to 10 pm shift.
And because a large part of the mall was closed, off to Powerbooks I went. I decided to grab a book because it was closing time already, I still had more than half and hour to wait, and I actually did NOT have a book in my gigantor purse.
So, I leafed through the new arrivals stack and found this --- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak book.
The cover drew me so I checked out the teaser at the back, which in turn, charmed me. While I had no real spending money to speak of at the moment, I found myself, after dithering between "yes buy" and "no save", I found myself whipping out my credit card and buying it.
I tore the plastic wrap open over coffee at SBC and it looks promising. Still, I was worried since it was an expensive book and I had no idea whether it was any good. Thankfully, a check at Amazon showed good reviews. Now only if I can find time to actually read.
iii. 300
It was inevitable, I have to throw my two cents in.
I went off to see 300 with no expectations. I had no idea what it was about (something spartan war something something) and only went as a favor to John who really wanted to watch it. Besides, seeing a movie was a nice way to spend a Friday night, right?
After two well-spent hours wherein I gasped, grabbed John's arm, cried, and got blown away, I had one conclusion.
It's a tanginang epic. (Tangina is a contraction of son of a bitch, but honestly, saying it in Filipino has much much more ooomph.) Because every few seconds or so, I had to go, tangina!
The cinematography / art direction, treatment, pacing, acting, script, everything about the film blew me away. I wanted to go through each and every element I loved but hey, this is prolly the nth blog entry you've read on 300, so I'll skip it.
Suffice to say, as soon as I got home at 1am, I went online and read up on the movie, the graphic novel, and the Battle of Thermopylae. And I was even more astounded to find out that a lot of the elements, even the kewl lines ("Then, we'll fight in the shade!", "Spartan, come home with your shield or on it!") were from history! How cool was that?
Anyway, I promise not to ramble anymore about 300. Although there will be one more entry, an f-locked one, but I'm sure a couple of people from my f-list would enjoy it.
iv. something i bought
Totemo kawaii desu! Yuh? 88 pesos each, Daiso / Japan Home, I love you! And so do my Pinkies! These little things are miniatures that are meant for doll houses, similar to the re-ments I blogged about some time ago.
v. sugar crash commencing
Today was a super busy day, despite it being a Sunday. Usually, my Sundays are spent sleeping til the sun is midway across the sky and the noontime variety shows are halfway over.
Today saw me leaving the house before the sun was up. I actually got to watch the sun rise as my mom drove me to Alabang. The reason? Work!
7:15 am saw me somewhere in Mandaluyong, attending an occular inspection of some high-rise condo we're shooting in tomorrow. I mean later.
After which, I, Dior and Cla rushed off to Megamall to shop for props. It was a tiring experience I don't want to repeat anytime soon since my feet were crying out by the time we finished. Sure, I loved the company, these girls are loads of fun, but I hate Megamall, especially on a weekend. Ugh.
Cla: Dior, nagugutom na AD mo! (Dior, your Art Director's hungry!) She was referring to herself of course. A sure sign that hell will soon break loose. Or at least, said Art Director will be ready to eat a whole cow. *looks around nervously* Or more likely, a whole Account Manager *points to Dior*
Still, all's well ends well. We grabbed really nice yet cheap table settings (SM Saleslady: Ma'am, ang sosyal naman ng mga pinamili ninyo / Ma'am, the stuff you bought are really classy --- score success! We were aiming for a classy --- albeit on a budget.) and I got a dozen Krispy Kremes. A baker's dozen, if you count the complimentary doughnut they gave me.
That, pretty much, summed up the day.
This time however, with Natsume at my side, I decided to give it a go. Too bad Shi-chan found out about it and decided to make it a Kao Onee-chan and me pictorial instead. Oh well. I'll give her center stage now.
06:16 am. Nee-chan isn't awake yet even though her alarm clock went off half an hour ago. Much as I'd want to let her sleep in, I have to wake her up already. That's her, sleeping behind me. Now let's see how I can wake her up... *grabs a thick book from the shelf*
( image heavy, 994kb total )
Little Sei's a tad worried. "It looks like rain," she frowns. Definitely a problem, considering she's in a summer yukata and using a paper parasol.
( This is what happens when you leave Rurouni Kenshin DVDs lying about the house )
Just got in today, after spending the day at my cousin's house. His parents flew in from SF, bringing shyteloads of goodies so I'm pretty happy. The only thing I asked them to bring me was Oberto Beef Jerky. I love it so, but it's either unavailable here or too expensive. Still, aside from that, they brought home loads of plain Hershey's, Andes Creme de Menthes, and various potato chips.
You can just imagine how much of a hurdle it will be to cut back on food. Especially since we will be spending lots of time together, and if there's one thing my Kapampangan family loves doing, it's eating. >_<
ii. pinky fun
I also spent a few hours this afternoon doing Pinky set-ups among the greenery at my cousin's. The theme was Samurai drama, so you can just imagine how fun it was. Will get the images from my camera after I update my LJ. Can't wait though.
iii. twilight
To the curious people on my flist (leki, lethologica, and alexis) I really recommend picking up Twilight. It's not literature, but it's not mere brainless fluff. And it rises head and shoulders over other Vampire fiction targeted at teens like stuff by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. I really enjoyed reading it, I mean, I had to order my own copy immediately. But please don't let my opinions color yours too much; the last thing I want to do is to turn the book into something overrated.
About buying a copy locally, that might pose a problem. It's currently not available at Powerbooks and it seems that Fully Booked is down to its last few copies. New Moon, the sequel is also out of stock now. I had to order my copies from Amazon, lest I change my mind about returning Chris' copy.
Don't let the fact that it's a series turn you off. You can read volume 1 as a standalone, as it's written with an okay ending, and you can leave it at that. Knowing Edward though, I find it hard that anyone can resist his charms. I know I wasn't, and fidgeted for days on end, trying to locate a copy of New Moon. I pestered Fully Booked's people just to find a copy, which unfortunately wasn't successful.
Good thing timing was on my side, another Aunt's coming home on Feb. 2 and Twilight and New Moon's on its way to her, along with my last 2 volumes of W-Juliet. Yes, I'll probably be hiding under a rock the weekend of Feb 3-4.
iv. back to work!
Back to work tomorrow. I honestly have no idea how I'll concentrate, knowing that Heroes 12 will be waiting for me. I'm downloading it now and crossing my fingers it'll be done when I wake up. So hard going back to work after a leisurely day. Really tempted to call in sick, but then, we all know how fake that would be, hahaha! Truthfully, if I'd only known that our planned location shoot wouldn't push through this week, I would've filed for a longer vacation. But as it is, I have stuff due tomorrow so might as well go back.
Durn. Must raid freezer for bento-possibilities. At least that will cheer me up tomorrow.
v. major milestone
And how could I forget! I drove solo for the first time today. From our house to my cousin's at Verdana. Early this morning. YAY! So proud of myself. I realize I'm a much more careful driver when I'm going solo. Even if I was swaying my head a bit to Justin Timberlake (blame the radio).
Can't wait for longer trips.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
